Warrington Town waiting on league decision over abandoned opener

WARRINGTON Town are waiting to hear what the repercussions are of their opening-day clash with Darlington 1883 being abandoned after 32 minutes on Saturday.

Town, beaten by Salford City at home on Tuesday, had fallen behind to goals from Adam Mitchell and Amar Purewal.

But shortly after the half-hour mark referee Danny Markham suffered a calf injury and was unable to continue.

A PA announcement was made for any officials in the crowd to come forward and two Darlington supporters offered their services.

However, Town boss Shaun Reid called his players back into the dressing room as it was felt the volunteers were not independent.

“We have sent our statement of events to the league, Darlington have sent theirs and there is the official’s report so we are awaiting a response, but the league said it should be a swift reply,” said Town chairman Toby Macormac.

“Two guys came down, one was the club doctor’s son, both were wearing Darlington tops and could not provide referee accreditation.

“We are not adverse to stand-in officials. When we got beat by Northwich last year and the assistant went down with cramp, someone from the crowd stepped in, but they had their badges.”

The league explained the game could go ahead with two officials, however the Yellows were unwilling to continue due to fears for players’ safety after the delay.

“Nobody knew the rules about two officials and because it took that long we had players cramping up,” added Macormac.

“When the floodlights failed against Curzon Ashton (with Town leading 2-0) last year the officials called it off after 20 minutes and that was for the safety of the Curzon players.”

Should the league rule the Yellows were at fault for failing to fulfil the fixture they could face a fine and possible points deduction.

“It’s a tough one for the league as it’s the opening day of the season and they have to consider the other matches taking place each weekend,” explained Macormac.

Warrington Town 0

Salford City 2

TOWN completed their first 90 minutes of the new Evo-Stik League First Division North season on Tuesday but suffered a loss to Class of ’92-backed Salford City.

With former Manchester United stars Gary and Phil Neville in attendance, the visitors struck twice through Danny Webber and Gareth Seddon.

Town’s Scott Metcalfe shot wide early on and then saw his shot saved from Ben Wharton’s cross, while Chris Simm was also unable to convert before the break.

Simm went close again after the interval from a Louis Corrigan corner.

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here